Commer TS3
|bore = 3 ¼ inch ( ) |stroke = 4 inch ( ) |length = |width = |height = |diameter = |weight = |block = |head = |valvetrain = |turbocharger = |fuelsystem = |management = |fueltype = Diesel |oilsystem = Wet sump |coolingsystem = Water-cooled |power = at 2,400 rpm |specpower = |torque = 270 lb.ft at 1,200 rpm |compression = |fuelcon = |specfuelcon = |oilcon = }} The Commer TS3 was a diesel engine fitted in Commer trucks built by the Rootes Group in the 1950s and 1960s. It was largely the product of Tilling-Stevens, but was developed by Rootes Group when they bought out Tilling-Stevens. The engine was the first diesel engine used by Rootes Group and was of unorthodox design. It was unusual in being an opposed piston engine, an engine where each horizontal cylinder contains two pistons, one at each end, that move in opposition to each other. Even more unusually, both sets of pistons drove only a single crankshaft; most opposed piston engines have a separate crankshaft at each end of the cylinder. The TS3 engine used a single crankshaft beneath the cylinders, each piston driving it through a connecting rod, a rocker bellcrank and a second connecting rod. The crankshaft had six crankpins and there were six rockers. The engine was a two-stroke, compression-ignition diesel engine with uniflow-ported cylinders. Scavenging was performed by a Roots blower.Roots is a different company to Rootes. The blower was actually made by Wade in Birmingham and was mounted on the front of the engine and driven by a long quill shaft from a chain drive at the rear of the engine. Although the engines gained a reputation for good performance, this quill shaft was somewhat prone to breaking if over-worked. Rootes' intention for the engine was to produce a new range of Commer trucks with the modern "cab forward" design, which required an engine low enough to mount under the driver's cab rather than in front of it as previously. Eric W Coy, Rootes' Chief Engineer, was responsible for the development of the engine by a core team of only seven people, at the Humber plant at Stoke Aldermoor. "TS" in the engine's name derives from its Tilling-Stevens, acquired by Rootes in 1950. From 1954 Rootes diesel production was moved to the Tilling-Stevens plant in Maidstone, Kent. Dimensions ) |stroke=4 inch ( ) |displacement= |power= at 2,400 rpm }} torque: 270 lb.ft at 1,200 rpm BMEP: 105 lb.sq.in Applications Trucks The TS3 was used in both the Commer and Karrier range of trucks. As the horizontal cylinders were lower than a vertical engine, the engine was mounted beneath the floor of the cab. The bonnet (hood) of the truck could be dispensed with, moving the windscreen and driver forward to give one of the first of the now common cab forward trucks. The engine's distinctive exhaust bark was always apparent, leading to their popular name of "Knockers". Buses http://www.commer.org.nz/Commer_Connections/Avenger_Bus.html Variants Rootes-Lister Rootes Group, Commer's parent company, entered into a partnership with Lister to market the engines as industrial stationary engines through a joint company Rootes-Lister Ltd. The venture was not a success for industrial engines, although some were sold as marine engines by Lister Blackstone Marine Ltd. Many of these marine engines survive today. Commer TS4 The TS4 engine was an enlarged four-cylinder version of the TS3. It ran 1.2 million miles as a pre-production prototype. The project was cancelled after Chrysler bought Rootes in 1968. Comparable engines Sulzer ZG9 There are very few similar engines. Opposed-piston diesel engines are rare enough at this size, the bellcrank arrangement was almost unheard of. Probably the only engine using a similar arrangement was the pre-war Sulzer ZG9. This was an opposed-piston engine with a choice of two, three and four cylinders (2ZG9, 3ZG9, 4ZG9); the two-cylinder version developed 120 bhp. Its layout was very similar to the Commer engines, but it used a piston scavenge pump rather than a Roots blower. This was mounted vertically above one rocker, driven by another bellcrank from the main rockers. This engine is sometimes cited as an inspiration for the Commer design. at 1,500 rpm }} BMEP: 84 lb.sq.in See also * Gobron-Brillié : Early French cars, circa 1900, using opposed pistons driven from a single crankshaft by a long overhung yoke. * Junkers Jumo 204 : An opposed-piston aircraft engine of the 1930s, using twin crankshafts. * Napier Deltic : A much larger multi-bank engine, reducing the number of crankshafts by sharing them between cylinder banks. References External links Category:Commer Category:Opposed piston engines Category:Two-stroke diesel engines Category:Diesel engines by model